SPECPRO 031 Correction of Civil Entries [PDF]

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CORRECTION OF CIVIL ENTRIES 715 SCRA 740 (2014) CORRECTION OF CIVIL ENTRIES[1] By Atty. EMMANUEL J. MAPILI[2] ___________________ § 1. Introduction, p. 740 § 2. Relevant Laws, p. 741 § 3. When Rule 108 An Appropriate Adversary Proceeding, p. 756 § 4. Susceptibility of Void Marriages to Collateral Attack, p. 758 § 5. Recognition of Foreign Judgment, p. 760 § 6 Correction of Entries Re Fictitious Marriages Usually in Birth Certificates, p. 761 ___________________ § 1. Introduction The best proof of a marriage is the Certificate of Marriage. It is a certificate containing the full name and address of each of the contracting party, their ages, date of the marriage, the names and addresses of the witnesses, the full name, address _______________ [1] Republic of the Philippines vs. Merlinda L. Olaybar, G.R. No. 189538, February 10, 2014. [2] Atty. Emmanuel J. Mapili, a Career Service Executive Eligible (CSEE), before becoming Hearing Commissioner at the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET), was senior partner at the Buhain Soriano & Mapili Law Offices from 1995-1996. He is co-author of several law books published by Central Book Supply, Inc. 741 and relationship of the minor contracting parties or party of the person or persons who gave consent to the marriage and the full name, title and address of the solemnizing officer and registered in the Register of Marriages. In Republic of the Philippines vs. Merlinda L. Olaybar,[3] which is the case for annotation, respondent discovered, when she requested from the National Statistics Office (NSO) a Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR) which is one of the requirements for marriage, that she was already married to a Korean national. Because of this discovery, she filed a “Petition for Cancellation of Entries in the Marriage Contract” before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) pursuant to Rule 108 of the Rules of Court, especially the entries in the portion of the marriage contract containing information about the “wife.” During the hearing, respondent testified and denied having contracted that marriage and claimed that she did not even know said Korean national. Based on the evidence presented, the RTC decided in favor of respondent and ordered the cancellation and correction of the entries on the portion of the marriage contract pertaining to the “wife”. Petitioner questioned said decision on the ground, inter alia, that there was no clerical spelling, typographical and other innocuous errors in the marriage contract for it to fall within the provisions of Rule 108. The Supreme Court ruled that the RTC correctly applied Rule 108 of the Rules of Court. § 2. Relevant Laws

The controversies about entries of certain events in the civil registry office concern the issue of whether the entry sought to be recorded (or corrected) is either clerical, i.e., harmless or innocuous or substantial, i.e., involving matters that require full blown investigation. These are various laws on entries of certain events in the civil registrar offices that will be used and mentioned in this annotation. _______________ [3] G.R. No. 189538, February 10, 2014. 742 A.

Law on Registry of Civil Status (Commonwealth Act No. 3753)

Section 1. Civil Register.—A civil register is established for recording the civil status of persons, in which shall be entered: (a) births; (b) deaths; (c) marriages; (d) annulments of marriages; (e) divorces; (f) legitimations; (g) adoptions; (h) acknowledgment of natural children; (i) naturalization; and (j) changes of name. Section 2. Civil Registrar-General his duties and powers.—The director of the National Library shall be Civil Registrar-General and shall enforce the provisions of this Act. The Director of the National Library, in his capacity as Civil Registrar-General, is hereby authorized to prepare and issue, with the approval of the Secretary of Justice, regulations for carrying out the purposes of this Act, and to prepare and order printed the necessary forms for its proper compliance. In the exercise of his functions as Civil Registrar-General, the Director of the National Library shall have the power to give orders and instructions to the local Civil registrars with reference to the performance of their duties as such. It shall be the duty of the Director of the National Library to report any violation of the provisions of this Act and all irregularities, negligence or incompetency on the part of the officers designated as local civil registrars to the (Chief of the Executive Bureau or the Director of the Non-Christian Tribes) Secretary of the Interior, as the case may be, who shall take the proper disciplinary action against the offenders. Section 3. Local Civil Registrars.—Except in the City of Manila, where the duties of local civil registrar shall be performed by the officer of the Philippine Health Service designated by the Director of said service, the Treasurers of the regular municipalities, municipal districts and cities shall be local civil registrars of the respective municipalities, municipal districts or cities and shall perform the duties imposed upon them by this Act without extra compensation, 743 in addition to their ordinary duties. In his capacity as local civil registrar, the officer designated by the Director of the Health Service as local civil registrar of Manila and the treasurers above mentioned shall be under the direction and supervision of the Civil Registrar-General. Section 4. Civil Register Books.—The local registrars shall keep and preserve in their offices the following books, in which they shall, respectively make the proper entries concerning the civil status of persons: 1. Birth and death register; 2. Marriage register, in which shall be entered not only the marriages solemnized but also divorces and dissolved marriages. 3. Legitimation, acknowledgment, adoption, change of name and naturalization register. Section 5. Registration and Certification of Birth.—The declaration of the physician or midwife in attendance at the birth or, in default thereof, the declaration of either parent of the newborn child, shall be sufficient for the registration of a birth in the civil register. Such

declaration shall be exempt from the documentary stamp tax and shall be sent to the local civil registrar not later than thirty days after the birth, by the physician, or midwife in attendance at the birth or by either parent of the newly born child. In such declaration, the persons above mentioned shall certify to the following facts: (a) date and hour of birth; (b) sex and nationality of infant; (c) names, citizenship, and religion of parents or, in case the father is not known, of the mother alone; (d) civil status of parents; (e) place where the infant was born; (f) and such other data may be required in the regulation to be issued. In the case of an exposed child, the person who found the same shall report to the local civil registrar the place, date and hour of finding and other attendant circumstances. 744 In case of an illegitimate child, the birth certificate shall be signed and sworn to jointly by the parents of the infant or only the mother if the father refuses. In the latter case, it shall not be permissible to state or reveal in the document the name of the father who refuses to acknowledge the child, or to give therein any information by which such father could be identified. Any fetus having human features which dies after twenty four hours of existence completely disengaged from the maternal womb shall be entered in the proper registers as having been born and having died. Section 6. Death certificate and register.—No human body shall be buried unless the proper death certificate has been presented and recorded in the office of the local civil registrar. The physician who attended the deceased or, in his default the health officer concerned, or in default of the latter, any member of the family of the deceased or any person having knowledge of the death, shall report the same to the local health authorities, who shall issue a death certificate and shall order the same to be recorded in the office of the local civil registrar. The death certificate, which shall be issued by the attending physician of the deceased or, in his default, by the proper health officer, shall contain the following data be furnished by the person reporting the death; (a) date and place of death; (b) full name, (c) age, (d) sex, (e) occupation or profession, (f) residence; (g) status as regards marriage, (h) nationality of the deceased, and (i) probable cause of death. During epidemics, bodies may be buried provided the proper death certificates have been secured, which shall be registered not later than five days after the burial of the body. Section 7. Registration of marriages.—All civil officers and priests or ministers authorized to solemnize marriages shall send a copy of each marriage contract 745 solemnized by them to the local civil registrar within the time limit specified in the existing Marriage Law. In cases of divorce and annulment of marriage, it shall be the duty of the successful petitioner for divorce or annulment of marriage to send a copy of the final decree of the court to that local civil registrar of the municipality where the dissolved or annulled marriage was solemnized. In the marriage register there shall be entered the full name and address of each of the contracting parties, their ages, the place and date of the solemnization of the marriage, the names and addresses of the witnesses, the full name, address, and relationship of the minor contracting party or parties or the person or persons who gave their consent to the marriage, and the full name, title, and address of the person who solemnized the marriage.

In cases of divorce or annulment of marriages, there shall be recorded the names of the parties divorced or whose marriage was annulled, the date of the decree of the court, and such other details as the regulations to be issued may require. Section 8. Registration of legitimations by subsequent marriage.—The acknowledgment of the children legitimated by subsequent marriage, referred to in article one hundred and twenty-one of the Civil Code, may be recorded in the legitimation register, entering: (a) The names of the parents; (b) that at the time when the children were conceived, the aforesaid parents could have contracted marriage, and that they actually contracted marriage, stating the date and place when such marriage was solemnized, the minister who officiated, and the civil register where such marriage was recorded; (c) the names of the children legitimated with reference to their birth certificates. Section 9. Registration of acknowledgment by public instrument.—Any voluntary acknowledgment by the natural parents or by only one of them by public instrument, 746 shall be recorded in the acknowledgment register of the civil registrar of the municipality where the decree was issued. The names of the interested parties and such other data as may be required by the regulations to be issued shall be entered in register. It shall be the duty of the natural parents whose voluntary acknowledgment was may be means of a public instrument to send a certified copy thereof to the local civil registrar of the municipality in the civil register whereof the birth of the acknowledged child was recorded, not later than twenty days after the execution of such instrument, for the registration thereof. Section 10. Registrations of adoptions, changes of name, and naturalization.—In cases of adoptions, changes of name, and naturalization, it shall be the duty of the interested parties or petitioners to register the same in the local civil registrar of the municipality where the birth of the acknowledged child was registered setting forth the following data: (a) full name of the natural child acknowledged; (b) age; (c) date and place of birth; (d) status as to marriage, and residence of the child acknowledged; (e) full name of the natural father or mother who makes the acknowledgment; (f) full name of the notary public before whom the document was acknowledged; (g) full names of witnesses to document; (h) date and place of acknowledgment of said document and entry and page number of the notarial register in which the name was recorded. Section 11. Duties of clerks of Court to register certain decisions.—In cases of legitimation, acknowledgment, adoption, naturalization and change of given or family name, or both, upon the decree which issued the decree to ascertain whether the same has been registered, and if this has not been done, to have said decree recorded in the office of the civil registrar of the municipality where the court is functioning. 747 Section 12. Duties of local civil registrar.—Local civil registrars shall (a) file registrable certificates and documents presented to them for entry; (b) complete the same monthly and prepare and send any information required of them by the Civil Registrar-General; (c) issue certified transcripts or copies of any certificate or document registered upon payment of proper fees; (d) order the binding, properly classified, of all certificates or documents registered during the year; (e) send to the Civil Registrar-General, during the first ten days of each month, a copy of the entries made during the preceding month for filing; (f) index the same to facilitate search and identification in case any information is required, and (g) administer oaths, free of charge, for civil register purposes.

Section 13. Documents registered are public documents.—The books making up the civil register and all documents relating thereto shall be considered public documents and be prima facie evidence of the truth of the facts therein contained. They shall be open to the public during office hours and shall be kept in a suitable safe which shall be furnished to the local civil registrar at the expense of the general fund of the municipality concerned. The local registrar shall not under any circumstances permit any document entrusted to his care to be removed from his office, except by order of a court, in which case the proper receipt shall be taken. The local civil registrar may issue certified copies of any document filed, upon payment of the proper fees required in this Act. Section 14. Expenses and fees of the office of the civil registrar.—All expenses in connection with the establishment of local civil registers shall be paid out of municipal funds, and for this purpose, municipal councils and boards shall make the necessary appropriation out of their available general funds: 748 For the registration of documents and for certified copies of documents on file in the local civil registrar’s office, fees shall be charged in accordance with the following schedule: a. For registration of legitimations P2.00 b. For registration of an adoption 2.00 c. For registration of an annulment of marriage 10.00 d. For registration of a divorce 10.00 e. For registration of naturalization 20.00 f. For registration of a change of name 2.00 g. For certified copies of any documents in the register, for each one hundred words 20.00 The Civil Registrar General or any local civil registrar may issue certified copies of documents free of charge for official use or at the request of a competent court. All fees collected for such purposes shall accrue to the general fund of the municipality concerned. Section 15. Preservation of present register books.—All birth, death and marriage registers and other papers relating thereto at present in the keeping of the municipal secretaries or the clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila shall be transferred by the same to the officers acting as local civil registrars in each city or municipality and shall form part of the archives of the latter. Section 16. False statement.—Any person who shall knowingly make false statement in the forms furnished and shall present the same for entry in the civil register, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one month nor more than six months, or by a fine of not less than two hundred pesos nor more than five hundred or both, in the discretion of the court. Section 17. Failure to report.—Other violations. — Any person whose duty is to report any fact concerning the 749 civil status of persons and who knowingly fails to perform such duty, and any person convicted of having violated any of the provisions of this Act shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten pesos nor more than two hundred. Section 18. Neglect of duty with reference to the provisions of this Act.—Any local registrar who fails properly to perform his duties in accordance with the provisions of this Act and of the regulations issued hereunder, shall be punished for the first offense, by an administrative fine in a sum equal to his salary for not less than fifteen days nor more than three months, and for a second or repeated offense, by removal from the service.

Section 19. Application of this Act to the special provinces.—The Director of the National Library, in his capacity as Civil Registrar-General, is hereby authorized upon recommendation of the (Director of Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes) Secretary of the Interior, to designate the municipalities in the specially organized provinces where the provisions of this Act shall be applied. Section 20. Transitory provisions.—All rights, duties and powers established by Act Numbered thirty-six hundred and thirteen, entitled the Marriage Law, with the reference to the procedure for the issuance of the marriage license prior to the solemnization of marriage, the registration, of marriages, and the filing of the documents in connection therewith, conferred and imposed by said Act upon the clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila and the municipal secretaries, are hereby transferred to the officer of the Health Service in accordance with section three of this Act, and to the municipal treasurers, respectively, in their capacity as local registrars. All duties and powers established by subsections (d) and (e) of section twenty-one hundred and twelve of the Administrative Code, imposed and conferred by said section upon the municipal secretaries, are hereby likewise 750 transferred to the municipal treasurers in their capacity as local civil registrars. Section 21. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. Section 22. This Act shall take effect three months after its approval. Approved, November 26, 1930. B. Civil Code of the Philippines Art. 407. Acts, events and judicial decrees concerning the civil status of persons shall be recorded in the civil register. Art. 408. The following shall be entered in the civil register: (1) Births; (2) marriages; (3) deaths; (4) legal separations; (5) annulments of marriage; (6) judgments declaring marriages void from the beginning; (7) legitimations; (8) adoptions; (9) acknowledgments of natural children; (10) naturalization; (11) loss, or (12) recovery of citizenship; (13) civil interdiction; (14) judicial determination of filiation; (15) voluntary emancipation of a minor; and (16) changes of name. Art. 410. The books making up the civil register and all documents relating thereto shall be considered public documents and shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein contained. Art. 411. Every civil registrar shall be civilly responsible for any unauthorized alteration made in any civil register, to any person suffering damage thereby. However, the civil registrar may exempt himself from such liability if he proves that he has taken every reasonable precaution to prevent the unlawful alteration. Art. 412. No entry in a civil register shall be changed or corrected, without a judicial order. 751 C. Republic Act No. 9048[4] SECTION 1. Authority to Correct Clerical or Typographical Error and Change of First Name or Nickname.—No entry in a civil register shall be changed or corrected without a judicial order, except for clerical or typographical errors and change of first name or nickname, the day and month in the date of birth or sex of a person where it is patently clear that there was a clerical or typographical error or mistake in the entry, which can be corrected or changed by the concerned

city or municipal civil registrar or consul general in accordance with the provisions of this Act and its implementing rules and regulations. (As amended by R.A. 10172,[5] approved August 15, 2012) SECTION 2. Definition of Terms.—As used in this Act, the following terms shall mean: 1. “City or Municipal civil registrar” refers to the head of the local civil registry office of the city or municipality, as the case may be, who is appointed as such by the city or municipal mayor in accordance with the provisions of existing laws. 2. “Petitioner” refers to a natural person filing the petition and who has direct and personal interest in the correction of a clerical or typographical error in an entry or change of first name or nickname in the civil register. _______________ [4] An Act Authorizing The City or Municipal Civil Registrar or The Consul General to Correct a Clerical or Typographical Error in an Entry and/or Change of First Name or Nickname in the Civil Register without Need of a Judicial Order, Amending for this Purpose Articles 376 And 412 of the Civil Code of the Philippines. [5] An Act Further Authorizing the City or Municipal Civil Registrar or the Consul General to Correct Clerical or Typographical Errors in the Day and Month in the Date of Birth or Sex of a Person Appearing in the Civil Register Without Need of a Judicial Order Amending for this Purpose Republic Act Numbered Ninety Forty-Eight. 752 3. “Clerical or typographical error” refers to a mistake committed in the performance of clerical work in writing, copying, transcribing or typing an entry in the civil register that is harmless and innocuous, such as misspelled name or misspelled place of birth, mistake in the entry of day and month in the date of birth or the sex of the person or the like, which is visible to the eyes or obvious to the understanding, and can be corrected or changed only by reference to other existing record or records: Provided, however, That no correction must involve the change of nationality, age, or status of the petitioner. (As amended by R.A. 10172, approved August 15, 2012) 4. “Civil Register” refers to the various registry books and related certificates and documents kept in the archives of the local civil registry offices, Philippine Consulates and of the Office of the Civil Registrar General. 5. “Civil registrar general” refers to the Administrator of the National Statistics Office which is the agency mandated to carry out and administer the provision of laws on civil registration. 6. “First name” refers to a name or nickname given to a person which may consist of one or more names in addition to the middle and last names. SECTION 3. Who May File the Petition and Where. —Any person having direct and personal interest in the correction of a clerical or typographical error in an entry and/or change of first name or nickname in the civil register may file, in person, a verified petition with the local civil registry office of the city or municipality where the record being sought to be corrected or changed is kept. In case the petitioner has already migrated to another place in the country and it would not be practical for such party, in terms of transportation expenses, time and effort to appear in person before the local civil registrar keeping the documents to be corrected or changed, the petition may be 753

filed, in person, with the local civil registrar of the place where the interested party is presently residing or domiciled. The two (2) local civil registrars concerned will then communicate to facilitate the processing of the petition. Citizens of the Philippines who are presently residing or domiciled in foreign countries may file their petition, in person, with the nearest Philippine Consulates. The petitions filed with the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general shall be processed in accordance with this Act and its implementing rules and regulations. All petitions for the clerical or typographical errors and/or change of first names or nicknames may be availed of only once. SECTION 4. Grounds for Change of First Name or Nickname.—The petition for change of first name or nickname may be allowed in any of the following cases: The petitioner finds the first name or nickname to be ridiculous, tainted with dishonor or extremely difficult to write or pronounce. The new first name or nickname has been habitually and continuously used by the petitioner and he has been publicly known by that by that first name or nickname in the community; or The change will avoid confusion. SECTION 5. Form and Contents of the Petition.—The petition for correction of a clerical or typographical error, or for change of first name or nickname, as the case may be, shall be in the form of an affidavit, subscribed and sworn to before any person authorized by law to administer oaths. The affidavit shall set forth facts necessary to establish the merits of the petition and shall show affirmatively that the petitioner is competent to testify to the matters stated. The petitioner shall state the particular erroneous entry or entries, which 754 are sought to be corrected and/or the change sought to be made. The petition shall be supported with the following documents: (1) A certified true machine copy of the certificate or of the page of the registry book containing the entry or entries sought to be corrected or changed; (2) At least two (2) public or private documents showing the correct entry or entries upon which the correction or change shall be based; and (3) Other documents which the petitioner or the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general may consider relevant and necessary for the approval of the petition. No petition for correction of erroneous entry concerning the date of birth or the sex of a person shall be entertained except if the petition is accompanied by earliest school record or earliest school documents such as, but not limited to, medical records, baptismal certificate and other documents issued by religious authorities; nor shall any entry involving change of gender corrected except if the petition is accompanied by a certification issued by an accredited government physician attesting to the fact that the petitioner has not undergone sex change or sex transplant. The petition for change of first name or nickname, or for correction of erroneous entry concerning the day and month in the date of birth or the sex of a person, as the case may be, shall be published at least once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation. Furthermore, the petitioner shall submit a certification from the appropriate law enforcements, agencies that he has no pending case or no criminal record. 755

The petition and its supporting papers shall be filed in three (3) copies to be distributed as follows: first copy to the concerned city or municipal civil registrar, or the consul general; second copy to the Office of the Civil Registrar General; and third copy to the petitioner. (As amended by R.A. 10172, approved August 15, 2012) SECTION 6. Duties of the City or Municipal Civil Registrar or the Consul General.—The city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general to whom the petition is presented shall examine the petition and its supporting documents. He shall post the petition in a conspicuous place provided for that purpose for ten (10) consecutive days after he finds the petition and its supporting documents sufficient in form and substance. The city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general shall act on the petition and shall render a decision not later than five (5) working days after the completion of the posting and/or publication requirement. He shall transmit a copy of his decision together with the records of the proceedings to the Office of the Civil Registrar General within five (5) working days from the date of the decision. SECTION 7. Duties and Powers of the Civil Registrar General.—The civil registrar general shall, within ten (10) working days from receipt of the decision granting a petition, exercise the power to impugn such decision by way of an objection based on the following grounds: a. The error is not clerical or typographical; b. The correction of an entry or entries in the civil register is substantial or controversial as it affects the civil status of a person; or c. The basis used in changing the first name or nickname of a person does not fall. 756 § 3. When Rule 108 An Appropriate Adversary Proceeding As mentioned above, the petitioner in the Olaybar case questioned the decision of the RTC ordering the cancellation and correction of the entries on the portion of the marriage contract pertaining to the “wife” on the ground, inter alia, that there was no clerical spelling, typographical and other innocuous errors in the marriage contract for it to fall within the provisions of Rule 108. A proceeding for correction and/or cancellation of entries in the civil register under Rule 108 ceases to be summary in nature and takes on the characteristics of an appropriate adversary proceeding when all the procedural requirements under Rule 108 are complied with. While it is true that in special proceedings formal pleadings and a hearing may be dispensed with, and the remedy granted upon mere application or motion. But this is not always the case, as when the statute expressly provides. Hence, a special proceeding is not always summary. One only has to take a look at the procedure outlined in Rule 108 to see that what is contemplated therein is not a summary proceeding per se. Rule 108 requires publication of the petition three (3) times, i.e., once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks (Sec. 4). Rule 108 also requires inclusion as parties of all persons who claim any interest which would be affected by the cancellation or correction (Sec. 3). The civil registrar and any person in interest are also required to file their opposition, if any, within fifteen (15) days from notice of the petition, or from the last date of publication of such notice (Sec. 5). Last, but not the least, although the court may make orders expediting the proceedings, it is after hearing that the court shall either dismiss the petition or issue an order granting the same (Sec. 7).[6] _______________

[6] Republic vs. Valencia, 141 SCRA 462 (1986). 757 In Lee vs. Court of Appeals,[7] petitioners contended that resort to Rule 108 of the Revised Rules of Court was improper since private respondents sought to have the entry for the name of petitioners’ mother changed from “Keh Shiok Cheng” to “Tiu Chuan” who was a completely different person. What private respondents therefore sought was not merely a correction in name but a declaration that petitioners were not born of Lee Tek Sheng’s legitimate wife, Keh Shiok Cheng, but of his mistress, Tiu Chuan, in effect a “bastardization of petitioners.” Petitioners thus label private respondents’ suits before the lower courts as a collateral attack against their legitimacy in the guise of a Rule 108 proceeding. The Supreme Court held: “It is precisely the province of a special proceeding such as the one outlined under Rule 108 of the Revised Rules of Court to establish the status or right of a party, or a particular fact. The petitions filed by private respondents for the correction of entries in the petitioners’ records of birth were intended to establish that for physical and/or biological reasons it was impossible for Keh Shiok Cheng to have conceived and given birth to the petitioners as shown in their birth records. Contrary to petitioners’ contention that the petitions before the lower courts were actually actions to impugn legitimacy, the prayer therein is not to declare that petitioners are illegitimate children of Keh Shiok Cheng, but to establish that the former are not the latter’s children. There is nothing to impugn as there is no blood relation at all between Keh Shiok Cheng and petitioners.” The petitioners assert, however, that making the proceedings adversarial does not give trial courts the license to go beyond the ambit of Rule 108 which is limited to those corrections contemplated by Article 412 of the New Civil Code or mere clerical errors of a harmless or innocuous nature. Republic Act No. 9048 substantially amended Article 412 of the New Civil Code, to wit: _______________ [7] G.R. No. 118387, October 11, 2001, 367 SCRA 110. 758 SECTION 1. Authority to Correct Clerical or Typo graphical Error and Change of First Name or Nickname.—No entry in a civil register shall be changed or corrected without a judicial order, except for clerical or typographical errors and change of first name or nickname which can be corrected or changed by the concerned city or municipal civil registrar or consul general in accordance with the provisions of this Act and its implementing rules and regulations. The above law speaks clearly. Clerical or typographical errors in entries of the civil register are now to be corrected and changed without need of a judicial order and by the city or municipal civil registrar or consul general. The obvious effect is to remove from the ambit of Rule 108 the correction or changing of such errors in entries of the civil register. Hence, what is left for the scope of operation of Rule 108 are substantial changes and corrections in entries of the civil register. Republic Act No. 9048 is Congress’ response to the confusion wrought by the failure to delineate as to what exactly is that so-called summary procedure for changes or corrections of a harmless or innocuous nature as distinguished from that appropriate adversary proceeding for changes or corrections of a substantial kind. For we must admit that though we have constantly referred to

an appropriate adversary proceeding, we have failed to categorically state just what that procedure is. Republic Act No. 9048 now embodies that summary procedure while Rule 108 is that appropriate adversary proceeding. § 4. Susceptibility of Void Marriages to Collateral Attack The Olaybar case raises some interesting questions on the susceptibility of void marriages to a collateral attack. It must be noted that Section 2(a) of the Rule on Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Void Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages (A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC) states that a 759 petition for declaration of absolute nullity of void marriage may be filed solely by the husband or the wife. This means that a trial court has no jurisdiction to nullify marriages in a special proceeding for cancellation or correction of entry under Rule 108 of the Rules of Court. Thus, the validity of marriage can be questioned only in a direct action to nullify the marriage.[8] However, the Supreme Court, in Niñal vs. Bayadog,[9] made a pronouncement that a void marriage can be attacked collaterally. In said case, the father of petitioners (FOP) was married to the mother of petitioners (MOP) on September 26, 1974. MOP was shot by FOP resulting in her death on April 24, 1985. One year and 8 months thereafter or on December 11, 1986, FOP and respondent got married without any marriage license. In lieu thereof, FOP and respondent executed an affidavit dated December 11, 1986 stating that they had lived together as husband and wife for at least five years and were thus exempt from securing a marriage license. On February 19, 1997, FOP died in a car accident. After FOP's death, petitioners filed a petition for declaration of nullity of the marriage of FOP to respondent alleging that the said marriage was void for lack of a marriage license. Respondent filed a motion to dismiss on the ground that petitioners have no cause of action since they are not among the persons who could file an action for “annulment of marriage.” The Supreme Court, in granting the petition, ruled that for other purposes, such as but not limited to determination of heirship, legitimacy or illegitimacy of a child, settlement of estate, dissolution of property regime, or a criminal case for that matter, the court may pass upon the validity of marriage even in a suit not directly instituted to question the same so long as it is essential to the determination of the case. _______________ [8] Braza vs. The City Civil Registrar of Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, 607 SCRA 638 (2009), cited in Fujiki vs. Marinay, G.R. No. 196049, June 26, 2013, 700 SCRA 69. [9] G.R. No. 133778, March 14, 2000, 328 SCRA 122. 760 Similarly, in the Olaybar case, the Supreme Court seemed to have classified the “Petition for Cancellation of Entries in the Marriage Contract” before the RTC pursuant to Rule 108 of the Rules of Court filed not as a direct action when it stated that “[r]espondent indeed sought, not the nullification of marriage as there was no marriage to speak of, but the correction of the record of such marriage to reflect the truth as set forth by the evidence. Otherwise stated, in allowing the correction of the subject certificate of marriage by cancelling the wife portion thereof, the trial court did not, in any way, declare the marriage void as there was no marriage to speak of.” § 5.

Recognition of Foreign Judgment

Rule 108 creates a remedy to rectify facts of a person’s life which are recorded by the State pursuant to the Civil Register Law or Act No. 3753. In the Olaybar case, the RTC simply cancelled or corrected he entries in the marriage contract that are false especially regarding the identity of one of the parties to show the inexistence of the marriage. Similarly, in Fujiki vs. Marinay,[10] the Supreme Court ruled that a husband or wife of a prior marriage can file a petition to recognize a foreign judgment nullifying the subsequent marriage between his or her spouse and a foreign citizen on the ground of bigamy. Since the recognition of a foreign judgment only requires proof of fact of the judgment, it may be made in a special proceeding for cancellation or correction of entries in the civil registry under Rule 108 of the Rules of Court. Rule 1, Section 3 of the Rules of Court provides that “[a] special proceeding is a remedy by which a party seeks to establish a status, a right, or a particular fact.” These are facts of public consequence _______________ [10] G.R. No. 196049, June 26, 2013, 700 SCRA 69. 761 such as birth, death or marriage,[11] which the State has an interest in recording. Thus, the recognition of the foreign divorce decree may be made in a Rule 108 proceeding itself, as the object of special proceedings (such as that in Rule 108 of the Rules of Court) is precisely to establish the status or right of a party or a particular fact. [12] § 6. Correction of Entries Re Fictitious Marriages Usually in Birth Certificates The Olaybar case is unique in that the Supreme Court allowed a “Petition for Correction or Cancellation of Entries” pursuant to Rule 108 of the Rules of Court to correct or cancel the entry in a registered marriage contract on the ground that the marriage was fictitious. Previous Rule 108 proceedings correcting entries in the civil register involving fictitious marriages have been upheld by the Supreme Court only in relation to references of the fictitious marriages found in other registered documents such as birth certificates.[13] _______________ [11] Act No. 3753, Sec. 1. Civil Register.—A civil register is established for recording the civil status of persons, in which shall be entered: (a) births; (b) deaths; (c) marriages; (d) annulments of marriages; (e) divorces; (f) legitimations; (g) adoptions; (h) acknowledgment of natural children; (i) naturalization; and (j) changes of name. Cf. Rules of Court, Rule 108, Sec. 2. Entries subject to cancellation or correction.—Upon good and valid grounds, the following entries in the civil register may be cancelled or corrected: (a) births; (b) marriages; (c) deaths; (d) legal separations; (e) judgments of annulments of marriage; (f) judgments declaring marriages void from the beginning; (g) legitimations; (h) adoptions; (i) acknowledgments of natural children; (j) naturalization; (k) election, loss or recovery of citizenship; (1) civil interdiction; (m) judicial determination of filiation; (n) voluntary emancipation of a minor; and (o) changes of name. [12] Corpuz vs. Sto. Tomas, 628 SCRA 266 (2010), cited in Fujiki vs. Marinay, G.R. No. 196049, June 26, 2013, 700 SCRA 69. [13] See the following cases: Labayo-Rowe vs. Republic, No. L-53417, December 8, 1988, 168 SCRA 294; Republic vs Lim, G.R. No. 762 To illustrate, the following are the undisputed facts in Republic vs. Kho:[14]

On February 12, 2001, Carlito and his siblings Michael, Mercy Nona and Heddy Moira filed before the RTC of Butuan City a verified petition for correction of entries in the civil registry of Butuan City to effect changes in their respective birth certificates. Carlito also asked the court in behalf of his minor children, Kevin and Kelly, to order the correction of some entries in their birth certificates. In the case of Carlito, he requested the correction in his birth certificate of the citizenship of his mother to “Filipino” instead of “Chinese,” as well as the deletion of the word “married” opposite the phrase “Date of marriage of parents” because his parents, Juan Kho and Epifania Inchoco (Epifania), were allegedly not legally married. The same request to delete the “married” status of their parents from their respective birth certificates was made by Carlito’s siblings Michael, Mercy Nona, and Heddy Moira. With respect to the birth certificates of Carlito’s children, he prayed that the date of his and his wife's marriage be corrected from April 27, 1989 to January 21, 2000, the date appearing in their marriage certificate. The Supreme Court allowed the correction of the entry of the birth certificates of Carlito I. Kho and his siblings Michael, Mercy Nona, and Heddy Moira because the entry under “Date of marriage of parents” shows that their parents _______________ 153883, January 13, 2004, 419 SCRA 123; Republic vs. Benemerito, G.R. No. 146963, March 15, 2004, 425 SCRA 488; Alba vs. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 164041, July 29, 2005, 465 SCRA 495; Republic vs. Kho, G.R. No. 170340, June 29, 2007, 526 SCRA 177; and Republic vs. Coseteng-Magpayo, G.R. No. 189476, February 2, 2011, 641 SCRA 533. [14] G.R. No. 170340, June 29, 2007, 526 SCRA 177. 763 (Juan Kho and Epifania Inchoco) were “married” when in truth they were never factually married; the Supreme Court also allowed the correction of entry of the birth certificates of Carlito’s children Kevin and Kelly Dogmoc Kho because his children’s birth certificates shows that Carlito and his wife were married on April 27, 1989 but they were not factually married at this time and were only married on January 21, 2000. ——o0o—— © Copyright 2016 Central Book Supply, Inc. All rights reserved. [Correction of Civil Entries, 715 SCRA 740(2014)]